Essential Soundtracks: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg(1964)

Michel Legrand's abundantly lyrical soundtrack to Jacques Demy's 1964 movie musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg faithfully evokes the film's predominant theme of young love foiled by adult reality. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg's overriding melancholia finds a voice in two main melodic motifs Legrand uses throughout the soundtrack, the first from the Legrand jazz standard "Watch What Happens" and the second from his song "I Will Wait for You." Legrand's considerable arranging abilities are on display here as he works the recurring themes through a variety of settings: tragic duets cloaked in dramatic string passages, broken-down cabaret soliloquies, and even a tango piece à la Astor Piazzolla. A prevalent jazz waltz theme also seesaws its way through the score, providing a break from the gloom. As with his later Demy soundtrack, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Legrand does integrate jazz into the mix, but not in such pervasive fashion; occasional big-band outbursts and light jazz backgrounds ultimately take a back seat to Legrand's preferred chanson mode. Combining Debussy's opaque melodies and Richard Rodgers song economy, he transforms the whimsical French song of Piaf and Trenet into petite arias. For Legrand it comes down to the song, and there are plenty of good ones on The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. If that were not enough, the double-CD reissue also includes bonus tracks: a not so whimsical yet affecting Tony Bennett reading of "Watch What Happens" and a demonstration of Legrand's well-known jazz skills on trio, "I Will Wait for You," with big-band arrangements. With over two hours of music, extra material, and some of the most charming melodies written for the screen, this Sony Classical reissue is a must-have for Legrand fans and certainly one of his essential works.

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LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG
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Essential Soundtracks: The Civil War

Rarely does a soundtrack so convincingly create a mood for a work of this magnitude and duration. The historical content and the music blend together flawlessly, augmenting each other while adding a new dimension to the experience. I can not praise nor recommend this CD strongly enough.

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Essential Soundtracks: Charade(1963- Henry Mancini)

Reflecting the European setting of Stanley Donen's 1963 comedy thriller Charade, Henry Mancini's soundtrack provides an easy listening tour of continental musical history: Parisian café songs on "Bistro," Eastern European gypsy music on "Bateau Mouche," Schubert quartets on "Bye Charlie," and some beer barrel polka on "Punch and Judy." Thrown in for variety's sake are dashes of Bond soundtracks, Cossack songs, and Strauss waltzes. With Mancini's typically cohesive approach, though, Charade doesn't become a messy pastiche (even with his mix of Latin rhythms and classical music on some tracks). And in the spirit of inclusiveness, Mancini also shows his south of the border touch on "Mambo Parisienne" (picture Perez Prado sporting an accordion), "Latin Snowfall" (transcendentally gorgeous bolero, one of his best), and "Mégève" (bossa nova for the Biarritz set). Also don't overlook one of his biggest hits and finest melodies, "Charade" (done here in instrumental, vocal, and carousel? versions). A great Mancini recording made during the same fruitful, early-'60s period that produced two other fine soundtracks of his, Breakfast at Tiffany's andThe Pink Panther.

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